Posted 10/25/2015 10:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hi
I can relate to how you're feeling as I'm sure many can, when we first realise we are dealing with anxiety it is easy to feel overwhelmed and not know how to cope, which fuels even further anxiety and a viscous circle ensues. The good news is that I have been where you are and even worse, I was unable to sleep at all and wanted to commit suicide to escape my anxiety. But now I can say that anxiety no longer controls me, I feel like I have control over it. You will get to the same point one day, and will look back and wonder how you got through it all, but you will and will be stronger for it.
The most important thing I think in dealing with anxiety is learning how to relax. It sounds simple and it is in theory, all you need to do to beat anxiety is relax, but obviously actually doing it is the difficult part.
As obvious as it sounds I didn't really realise this until I had been struggling with anxiety for a long time, and Im sure a lot of people are the same. So how do you learn how to relax? Well part of it is avoidance, so doing something to distract yourself like play a game or do some housework. Thats usually what most people do in these situations but it only gets you so far. To beat anxiety you really have to learn how to relax and be comfortable without distracting yourself. To learn this I first started doing progressive muscle relaxation tapes, for around 30 minutes at a time. At first you may feel quite anxious lying down doing nothing but I persevered and quickly learnt that the initial anxiety doesn't last if you just allow yourself to follow the tape.
A lot of our anxiety leads to tension and stress in the body, and while its difficult to force the mind to relax, it is much easier to consciously relax the body. But the benefit is that making the body relaxed has a knock-on effect on the mind, and also all the physiological symptoms of anxiety.
I moved on from progressive muscle relaxation to autogenic training, which is a relaxation therapy you can do by yourself, in your head anywhere and anytime. When I am feeling stressed or down, I take some time and do these exercises.
When you do these several times a day, the cumulative effects on your anxiety are very strong. its important to always take time to do them, even if you're having a busy day and rushing around, always take time to relax the body and calm yourself.
After starting this, for about 2 months, I was able to go from sleeping only 4 hours a night on sleeping pills to sleeping 7-8 hours a night without the pills. It really worked for me and I know many others that have said the same. The great thing is it can be done alongside other things like medication and therapy and has no adverse effects.